Dialysis Fee Hike: 5 hurt as cops charge baton on protesters
At least five people were injured as police charged with batons to disperse a demonstration in Chattogram city yesterday.
Some kidney dialysis patients, their relatives and others gathered on KB Fazlul Quader Road, near Chattogram Medical College Hospital, to protest the recent hike in dialysis prices at the medical facility.
For the second time in a week, after Sunday, they protested yesterday demanding restoration of the previous fees for the treatment.
"The protesters occupied the road for around three hours from 11:00am, completely halting vehicular movement," said Nurul Alam Ashek, in-charge of CMCH Police Camp.
As police requested them to clear the road, some outsiders who intruded into the protest started hurling brickbats at the law enforcers, forcing them to charge with baton around 2:00pm, he added.
Contacted, CMCH Director Brig Gen Shamim Ahsan said he knew nothing about the demonstration. "I am looking into it," he said.
According to sources, the haemodialysis centre at CMCH has been running under the management of Sandor Medicaids, on the basis of a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement, since 2017.
As per the agreement, the company set up 31 machines where poor patients, recommended by the CMCH authorities, would receive dialysis at a cost of Tk 486 per session, and the government would give Tk 2,180 subsidy per patient for each session.
The protesters, however, said a kidney patient needs dialysis eight times a month, and they had to pay Tk 2,795 the first two times and Tk 510 for each of the rest.
The hospital authorities recently raised the fee further.
Patients now have to pay Tk 2,935 for the first four sessions and Tk 535 for each of the rest sessions in a month, sources said.
Brig Gen Ahsan, on Sunday, said the hospital has a capacity of treating 6,500 kidney dialysis patients which is less than the demand.
Due to some limitations and as per the directives of the health ministry, the authorities had to raise the dialysis fees, he added.
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